Kim Clijsters: The Champion Who Came Back Stronger

Four Grand Slam singles titles. Two championship eras. One of tennis’s most extraordinary comebacks. Kim Clijsters built a career defined by athletic brilliance, fierce competition and the courage to begin again.

There was a moment in a Kim Clijsters rally when the tennis court seemed to become impossibly wide.

A ball would travel beyond the reach of most players. Clijsters would chase it, slide into a full split, stretch her racket toward the ball and somehow keep the point alive.

The movement became one of women’s tennis’s most recognizable signatures.

But Clijsters would eventually perform an even more remarkable split.

She divided her championship career into two eras — separated by retirement, marriage, motherhood and nearly two years away from professional competition.

In the first, she became world No. 1 and won the 2005 US Open.

In the second, she returned as a mother, won the 2009 US Open as an unranked wildcard, defended that title in 2010 and captured the 2011 Australian Open.

Kim Clijsters did not return to discover how to become a champion. She returned knowing she already was one — and proved she could still win.

Kim Clijsters: A Champion Before the Comeback

Born on June 8, 1983, in Bilzen, Belgium, Kim Clijsters grew up in a sporting family.

Her father, Lei Clijsters, was a professional footballer. Her mother, Els, was a gymnastics champion.

That background helps explain the sporting environment in which she developed, although it would be too simple to attribute her extraordinary movement to a single inherited trait or training method.

Clijsters turned professional in 1997.

In 1998, she reached the Wimbledon girls’ singles final, losing to Katarina Srebotnik. The following year, she began announcing herself on the senior tour.

At Wimbledon in 1999, the teenage Belgian came through qualifying and reached the fourth round, where she lost to her childhood idol, Steffi Graf.

Later that summer, she pushed Serena Williams to three sets at the US Open.

Williams eventually prevailed 4–6, 6–2, 7–5, but Clijsters had already demonstrated the combination of power, movement and competitive resilience that would define her career.

Her first WTA singles title arrived in Luxembourg that year.

A future champion was emerging.

The Impossible Split

Clijsters’ signature full split was already attracting attention during her early professional years.

A contemporary report from January 2000 described both Clijsters and Serena Williams performing splits during their 1999 US Open encounter.

The movement became closely associated with Clijsters because of the way she combined flexibility, defensive reach and powerful baseline hitting.

She could be pushed into a seemingly hopeless position and still force her opponent to play another ball.

But the split was never the whole story.

It was the visible expression of a broader skill: turning defence into another opportunity to compete.

That ability helped carry Clijsters to the top of women’s tennis.

Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin: Two Belgian Champions

Clijsters’ rise coincided with that of another extraordinary Belgian player: Justine Henin.

Their rivalry became one of the defining relationships of women’s tennis in the early 2000s.

Clijsters brought powerful baseline hitting, exceptional court coverage and a two-handed backhand.

Henin offered a contrasting game built around her celebrated one-handed backhand, variety and attacking transitions.

They were teammates in Belgium’s 2001 Fed Cup triumph.

They were also rivals for the sport’s biggest prizes.

At Roland Garros in 2001, Clijsters defeated Henin in the semifinals to reach her first Grand Slam singles final.

Jennifer Capriati stopped her in a remarkable championship match, winning 1–6, 6–4, 12–10.

It was the beginning of a frustrating pattern.

Clijsters reached four Grand Slam singles finals before winning her first title.

Three of those defeats came against Henin.

Grand Slam final	Winner	Score
2001 Roland Garros	Jennifer Capriati	1–6, 6–4, 12–10
2003 Roland Garros	Justine Henin	6–0, 6–4
2003 US Open	Justine Henin	7–5, 6–1
2004 Australian Open	Justine Henin	6–3, 4–6, 6–3

Scores are shown from the winner’s perspective.

Their professional singles rivalry eventually finished 13–12 in Clijsters’ favour.

But Henin won all three Grand Slam finals they contested.

That distinction matters.

The overall head-to-head was almost perfectly balanced. At the majors, Henin frequently had the decisive advantage.

World No. 1 — Without a Singles Major

Clijsters first became world No. 1 on August 11, 2003.

By then, she had already won the season-ending championships in 2002 and 2003 and established herself among the sport’s elite.

She also excelled in doubles.

Partnering Ai Sugiyama, Clijsters won the 2003 Roland Garros and Wimbledon women’s doubles titles and reached world No. 1 in doubles.

She was already an accomplished champion, even while her first Grand Slam singles trophy remained elusive.

Then injuries interrupted her progress.

A serious wrist problem disrupted much of 2004.

But Clijsters rebuilt her career and returned spectacularly in 2005.

She won nine singles titles that season, including Indian Wells and Miami.

At the US Open, she finally claimed the Grand Slam singles title that had escaped her.

Clijsters defeated Mary Pierce 6–3, 6–1 in the final.

After four defeats in major finals, she was a Grand Slam singles champion.

And she had achieved it long before becoming a mother.

The First Retirement: Choosing Another Life

By 2007, Clijsters had accumulated 34 WTA singles titles.

She had reached world No. 1, won a Grand Slam singles championship and built one of the strongest records of her generation.

But years of professional competition had also taken a physical toll.

Wrist problems and other injuries had repeatedly interrupted her career.

On May 6, 2007, at just 23, she announced her retirement.

It was not simply a decision forced by one injury.

Clijsters had already expressed a desire to experience life beyond the tour.

She married Brian Lynch in July 2007.

Their daughter, Jada, was born in February 2008.

For a time, professional tennis was no longer the centre of her life.

And that might have been the end of the story.

Kim Clijsters’ Comeback: A Different Reason to Play

The path back to tennis was gradual.

Clijsters began hitting casually after Jada’s birth. More structured preparation followed in early 2009 as she trained for an exhibition celebrating Wimbledon’s new Centre Court roof.

Her father, Lei, had also died earlier that year.

Clijsters later described rediscovering enjoyment on the court during a difficult personal period.

The return was not an impulsive decision made after one exhibition match.

She announced her comeback on March 26, 2009 — before playing the Wimbledon exhibition in May.

Her preparation involved coach Wim Fissette and physical trainer Sam Verslegers.

She worked to rebuild the conditioning and stability required for professional competition.

The former world No. 1 was returning to a familiar sport, but with a different life around it.

She was now a mother.

She had already experienced success, injury and retirement.

And she wanted to discover whether she could compete at the highest level again.

Two Tournaments Before New York

Clijsters returned to the WTA Tour in August 2009.

At Cincinnati, she reached the quarterfinals before losing to Dinara Safina.

At Toronto, she reached the round of 16 before falling to Jelena Jankovic.

Those results showed that her game was competitive.

They did not yet suggest what would happen next.

Clijsters entered the US Open unranked and unseeded, using a wildcard.

It was only her third tournament back.

The 2009 US Open: The Wildcard Who Won It All

The 2009 US Open became one of the most remarkable comeback stories in Grand Slam history.

Clijsters arrived without a ranking.

She left with the championship.

But the achievement becomes even more extraordinary when the seven matches are examined individually.

Round	Opponent	Clijsters’ score
First round	Viktoriya Kutuzova	6–1, 6–1
Second round	Marion Bartoli	5–7, 6–1, 6–2
Third round	Kirsten Flipkens	6–0, 6–2
Fourth round	Venus Williams	6–0, 0–6, 6–4
Quarterfinal	Li Na	6–2, 6–4
Semifinal	Serena Williams	6–4, 7–5
Final	Caroline Wozniacki	7–5, 6–3

Clijsters lost just two sets during the tournament.

She recovered from losing the opening set against Marion Bartoli.

Against Venus Williams, she experienced an extraordinary three-set match: winning the first set 6–0, losing the second 0–6, then taking the decider 6–4.

She defeated Li Na in the quarterfinals.

Then came Serena Williams.

The Semifinal Against Serena Williams

Clijsters defeated Serena Williams 6–4, 7–5 in a semifinal remembered partly for its controversial ending.

Williams received a point penalty following a confrontation with a line judge over a foot-fault call.

Because the penalty came at match point, the contest ended immediately.

The incident remains part of the match’s history.

But it should not erase what Clijsters had already accomplished.

She had won the opening set against the tournament’s second seed and was leading the second set when the match ended.

The unranked wildcard was through to the final.

The Final — And Jada on Court

Caroline Wozniacki, seeded ninth, stood between Clijsters and the championship.

The Belgian won 7–5, 6–3.

She became the first wildcard to win the US Open women’s singles title.

She was also the first mother to win a Grand Slam singles championship since Evonne Goolagong Cawley at Wimbledon in 1980.

The celebration with her daughter Jada became one of the enduring images of the tournament.

But behind that image stood seven victories, including wins over Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Wozniacki.

The comeback was not merely a sentimental moment. It was a championship earned against elite opposition.

Three Grand Slam Titles After Motherhood

The 2009 US Open could have remained a remarkable one-off.

Clijsters made sure it did not.

In 2010, she won five WTA singles titles, including Miami, Cincinnati, the US Open and the season-ending championships in Doha.

At Flushing Meadows, she successfully defended her title by defeating Vera Zvonareva 6–2, 6–1 in the final.

Then came Melbourne.

At the 2011 Australian Open, Clijsters defeated Li Na 3–6, 6–3, 6–3 to claim her fourth Grand Slam singles title.

Three of those four majors had now come after her return as a mother.

In February 2011, she returned to world No. 1.

She had reached the summit in two different championship eras.

Two Eras, Two Different Measures of Success

Achievement	First era: 1997–2007	Second era: 2009–2012
WTA singles titles	34	7
Grand Slam singles titles	1	3
Grand Slam final record	1–4	3–0
Best singles ranking	No. 1	No. 1
Weeks at singles No. 1	19	1
Season-ending championships	2	1

Mothers who won Grand Slam singles titles

Clijsters was not the first mother to win a Grand Slam singles title, but her three championships after motherhood matched Margaret Court’s Open Era achievement in 1973. More than three decades after Goolagong Cawley’s Wimbledon victory in 1980, Clijsters reopened a chapter of tennis history that had remained unwritten for 29 years.

Her first era was longer and produced far more tour titles.

Her second produced more Grand Slam singles championships and a perfect record in major finals.

Neither era needs to diminish the other.

Together, they explain why Clijsters’ career was exceptional.

Did Justine Henin’s Absence Make the Comeback Easier?

There is an important question surrounding the 2009 comeback.

Justine Henin, who had defeated Clijsters in three Grand Slam finals, was no longer competing.

Henin had dominated the 2007 season, winning ten titles, including Roland Garros and the US Open.

She retired in May 2008 while ranked world No. 1.

Her absence unquestionably changed the competitive landscape.

But explaining Clijsters’ 2009 US Open victory simply through Henin’s retirement ignores the opponents she actually defeated.

Clijsters beat both Williams sisters and Caroline Wozniacki in New York.

And when Henin returned to competition in 2010, their rivalry resumed.

Clijsters won all three of their tour meetings that year, including the Brisbane final and their Wimbledon fourth-round encounter.

Their final professional head-to-head stood at 13–12 in Clijsters’ favour.

The field had changed between her championship eras.

But it had not become an easy field.

Clijsters still had to defeat the players standing across the net.

And she did.

One More Comeback — Without Another Championship

Clijsters’ second championship era ended in 2012.

Her US Open singles campaign concluded with a defeat against Laura Robson, and she stepped away from professional competition again.

She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2017.

For many players, that would have been the final chapter.

But Clijsters wasn’t finished testing herself.

In 2019, she announced another comeback, returning to competition in February 2020 at the age of 36.

This time, the circumstances were different.

She was raising three children.

The professional tour had evolved.

And the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted opportunities to establish match rhythm.

Between 2020 and 2021, Clijsters played five WTA Tour singles matches.

She lost all five.

Her opponents included Garbiñe Muguruza, Johanna Konta, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Hsieh Su-wei and Katerina Siniakova.

In April 2022, she confirmed that she was stepping away from professional tennis again.

There was no fourth Grand Slam championship.

No dramatic return to world No. 1.

But this final attempt deserves its place in the story.

It reminds us that even extraordinary champions cannot guarantee a successful comeback simply by deciding to try again.

The 2009 return was exceptional precisely because success was never assured.

Kim Clijsters’ Legacy: More Than the Full Split

Kim Clijsters finished her career with 41 WTA singles titles, four Grand Slam singles championships and 20 total weeks at world No. 1.

She also won two Grand Slam women’s doubles titles and became a champion in both singles and doubles at the highest level.

Her record against Justine Henin captures the competitive tension of her first era.

Her 2009 US Open wildcard victory captures the improbability of her second.

Her later return reminds us that ambition and results do not always travel together.

And the full split remains the perfect image of the player herself.

At first glance, it looked like a desperate defensive position.

But Clijsters had a remarkable ability to turn that position into another chance.

Her career followed a similar pattern.

She became a champion, stepped away, returned and won three more majors.

Then she tried once again, without the same results.

Kim Clijsters could do the splits on a tennis court.

She also split her career into two championship eras — and made the second one extraordinary in a different way.

The score tells us what she won.

Her story tells us why the comeback still matters.

Career at a Glance

Detail	Kim Clijsters
Country	Belgium
Born	June 8, 1983
Birthplace	Bilzen, Belgium
Plays	Right-handed, two-handed backhand
WTA singles titles	41
Grand Slam singles titles	4
Grand Slam doubles titles	2
Highest singles ranking	World No. 1
Total weeks at singles No. 1	20
International Tennis Hall of Fame	Inducted 2017

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